Bloom
by Mrs. HopeEstheim
Summary: The two of them were coming to terms with their feelings slowly, in their own ways, but they would eventually come to the same conclusion. NaLu.


**Okay, so...I like the beginning of this, but I don't think it's all as good as how I start it. It's just a one-shot, so don't like, add it to story alerts or something. (It makes me feel bad when people add one-shots to their story alerts, 'cause then I have to say that there won't be anymore...)**

**Anyway, here it is.**

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><p>Lucy clutched a handful of dirt, her face pressed against the gritty, sandy ground with a heel pushing down between her shoulder blades. She grunted in pain, but otherwise would let no sounds of her agony escape. The grains of the beach rubbed into the gash on her upper arm, stinging and bringing tears to her eyes, but the ex-Heartphilia heiress would not cry out. The spiked heel dug farther into her back, and she arched her body slightly in silent discomfort as the woman responsible for her current state laughed in a high voice.<p>

"Why don't you cry, little girl?" the pressure was removed from Lucy's back, but then she was wrenched farther into a backbend when her opponent grasped her hair and yanked violently. A horrible, cowardly whimper escaped the lips of the blonde girl, and she wanted desperately to choke the sound back. Her attacker laughed again and jerked Lucy's head to where they were looking at each other, Lucy through one eye squinted with pain and another swelled from their fight. And the woman asked, "Why don't you scream for me? Aren't you a pampered little rich girl? I want to hear you scream!"

The woman, who had shockingly red hair, dug her claw-like nails into the flesh of Lucy's pale, delicate, and already bruised and battered cheeks. Blood welled up where her crimson painted nails made half-moon incisions on the celestial mage's face. Lucy frowned at the redhead, biting her lip so hard she drew blood.

"It's no fun if you won't scream for me!" she cried, and the woman, who was a fire mage, hauled Lucy to her feet and practically threw her into a nearby tree; the thrown girl involuntarily cried out, then clamped her mouth closed. The tremendous force of the impact had even cracked the tree, a resounding sound that echoed. The damage was already done, for just through the woods behind her was the house of the one person she didn't want to come out. She didn't want him to see her like this; beaten and bloody, and less than a hundred yards from his home. He would blame himself for not hearing the sounds of battle sooner, and Lucy didn't want him to do that.

Lucy thought in vain that maybe, maybe he wasn't home…but then she pleaded silently for him to actually be there, so that he could come save her. Fire was his element; this woman would only take him ten seconds to beat. And, the blonde thought desperately, she could have probably triumphed, had she not left her keys at home. The keys that opened the gate to the celestial realm and had forged a connection between she and her stellar spirits.

The keys that could have saved her.

"_No_!" Lucy said aloud, driving that thought from her mind. Her injuries weren't so serious; maybe she had a few cracked ribs now, and she had that bloody incision on her upper right arm, but she wasn't losing more blood than she could stand. She would not die here, not practically on _his_ doorstep.

Blonde hair hanging damply around her face, and a red substance trickling from her temple, Lucy forced herself to her feet. She might be useless, she might not have her spirits, but she was still a mage, and a mage of Fairy Tail. In the event that he wasn't home, or that he hadn't heard, she would have to fight and win on her own, but she could not die. Her grimace of pain did not escape notice, but the redhead did not comment on it. She merely looked Lucy in the eye, spotting the defiance that the blonde showed; she smirked.

"No? Are you saying you won't scream?"

Neither noticed the crashing in the forest behind the blonde. All sounds were drowned out by Lucy's heartbeat, or in her opponent's case, her eagerness to see blood.

"I won't," the blonde panted, standing as straight as she could. Her fingers twitched and she clenched them tightly, forcing the fingers of her hands to curl up against her palms. She'd never had to fight with just her fists before, without even her whip, but there was a first time for everything, and this seemed to be it.

"I'll make you," the redhead sneered, and before the Heartphilia girl could take a single step toward, the desire to hear screams was granted. Bright flames licked around the celestial mage, burning her, blistering her, making her collapse to her knees, trying to stifle her shrieks. A joyful laughter came from the fire mage, and the fire she controlled burned even fiercer, brighter, as it engulfed the blonde who had dared stand up to her.

It didn't matter that the woman had just spotted the Fairy Tail guild marking on Lucy's right hand and immediately leapt into an attack, not even bothering to shout a warning. It didn't matter that she had struck first, that her bloodthirstiness was to blame for the defiant glint in the other woman's eyes. None of it mattered to the female fire mage but the delicious satisfaction she got from hearing the sound of another's agony. Hearing Lucy Heartphilia shriek as she burned alive.

"What are you doing?" a growling voice asked as another figure leapt into view, right into the fire where the blonde was crouched. He didn't even flinch, nor did he cry out, and the joyful laughter broke off. Eyes as red as her hair widened when this new person opened his mouth and sucked all of her flames in, licking is lips and wiping the back of his hand across them as though it was a delicious meal. This, she knew, must be Salamander, of Fairy Tail. It was proven when he turned his right shoulder to her in order to inspect the singed, blistering woman at his feet.

Lucy, for her part, thought that he could have had better timing, but didn't really feel anger at all; it was relief that flooded her veins.

With an action that only her willpower could lead her to achieve, she slowly and deliberately lifted her head, and said, with a voice that croaked, "Right on time, Natsu."

Black eyes widened, and Natsu Dragneel watched as a smile spread across her dry, cracked lips. She was burned and blackened and blistered, but still she had the strength to smile at her nakama. It was the strength of a Fairy Tail mage, and Natsu had always suspected Lucy of having such a characteristic. But to see it here, so close to his own home, hit him where it hurt, hard. So close to his home, but he hadn't come until it was almost too late. His eyes narrowed then, and hardened, and he turned to face the now laughing mage who had caused this. He was furious now.

"Who are you?" he asked darkly, and already his arms were swirling with various shades of orange, his vivid salmon pink hair moving with the breeze that his flames stirred up. "Why did you do this to Lucy?"

"I wanted a little fun," the redhead smiled, though in her heart she knew she was no match. "I saw the mark on her hand and decided that it would be better to have my fun with a mage than with a civilian. Don't you agree, _Lucy_?"

"_Don't talk to her_!" Natsu snapped at her, and before the enemy mage could register what had happened she was on the ground, barely conscious, with the furious dragon-slayer bearing down on her. "Don't _ever _mess with Fairy Tail again."

The protectiveness of his nakama; the redhead wanted something like that. In the guild she had abandoned, there was no one who cared for anyone so deeply. And more than that, she could see, was in his protectiveness of the blonde girl. It was likely, the fire mage mused as she stared up at the darkening sky, that neither of them had said anything yet, but it was obvious that they both had such feelings. The relief in Lucy's eyes when he had rescued her and the hardness and fury in his own when he had turned to the one who had caused that pain.

Just before she blacked out, the fire mage resolved to beg for forgiveness, and even admittance into the guild. A guild like Fairy Tail seemed well worth being a part of.

As the darkness enfolded that fire mage in its arms, Natsu reached Lucy.

"Luce, are you alright?" he asked, worried beyond the level of concern that mere nakama held for each other. Though they were only just realizing that fact themselves, the redheaded woman had already realized the depth of their feelings.

"I'll be fine, Natsu," she said, but as she stood, she winced and let a slight whimper escape.

"C'mon," the young man surprised his friend when he hefted her, as gently as he could, in his arms. "I've got some burn ointment at home that will heal you right up, and then we can look at your head and your arm. Is there anything else?"

Normally, Lucy knew, he wouldn't be the one thinking of healing and first aid; she would have taken that attitude towards him. But here he was, and she couldn't help but like this caring side of him. It was a side, she had noticed, that the dragon-slayer only showed to her, and sometimes to Happy. Being in the same boat as that cat sometimes irked her, but she couldn't deny that she didn't mind when it came to this Natsu.

As she was jostled slightly and a pain went through her, she was forced back to the question he had asked. Taking a breath, she replied, in her croaky tone, "I might…have a few ribs that are hurt somehow…"

She closed her eyes as he shifted her gently into a more secure hold against his warm body. Lucy heard him curse under her breath, and allowed herself a small smile.

"I'll take you to my house," Natsu said, starting to walk slowly, with measured paces. The blonde knew he was thinking about her injuries as he did so, for which she was thankful. "You can use some of that ointment while I go get Wendy, okay?"

"Don't worry about it," she tried, "It's not that bad."

"I'm getting Wendy," was his short reply.

With a small smile, she conceded, "Alright, then."

Lucy let her head fall against him and a silence spread between them. It wasn't one of those uncomfortable silences, but one born of companionship and their understanding of one another. She understood that he felt the need to do something for her; he understood that she knew him well enough to understand that about him. They were like childhood friends, who knew everything about one another, but they weren't. They'd only known each other for almost two years.

The time didn't matter, though, Lucy realized as she daubed on some of the ointment while Natsu was out getting Wendy. Even if it had only been a few months into their friendship, the connection they had wouldn't have felt awkward to her. And as Natsu came through the door, the adorable little sky dragon-slayer Wendy on his back, the blonde celestial mage began to understand even more about their relationship. The understanding that their camaraderie was _more_ than just camaraderie came first, but she'd already started to accept that even before he knelt down beside her with Wendy and took it into his own hands to gently spread the burn cream on her red and blistered legs. The look in his eyes when he raised his head to meet Lucy's brown gaze was so genuine that she turned away from the sincerity it showed. She turned from the sliver of his heart that he let her see.

When Wendy (and the ever-present Charle) had left, a groggy Happy (who'd been asleep the whole time) deciding to follow, there was silence again. But Lucy was getting used to this, somehow. She liked it when Natsu was loud, and she somewhat enjoyed when he was being annoying, but most of all she knew they had an understanding when both of them were quiet.

"Luce…" the voice broke the silence after some time, and she turned to him, meeting his eyes without hesitation. Strong, warm arms enfolded her in their embrace then, and she let them. The seemingly fearless dragon-slayer nuzzled his nose into her hair, his breath lightly ghosting across the skin of her shoulder as he said, "I'm so sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for, idiot," Lucy told him, raising her right hand–the one with her Fairy Tail marking–to his hair and running the oddly silky strands through her fingers. "Don't be stupid."

And then, in a smaller voice, she said, "It's not your fault, you know."

A gentle squeeze showed her that he had heard her words, though he probably wouldn't believe them. With a contented sigh, she let her head fall against his chest, the end of his scarf tickling her chin just a little. Another part about him that she was growing attached to.

Natsu, on the other hand, inhaled the scent that was just so…_Lucy_. Wendy had made her shower, even at Natsu's house, but it didn't matter that the blonde was in his clothes, or had used his soap; she still smelled like _Lucy_. There was no other way to describe it, and he didn't want her to smell any different, unless perhaps there was a bit of his own scent on her skin all the time, because it would mean that they were always together. And if it was Lucy, he wouldn't mind.

The two of them were coming to terms with their feelings slowly, in their own ways, but they would eventually come to the same conclusion.

By the time they fully understood, their love would blossom into a glorious conglomeration of things about each other that they couldn't live without, and neither of them would have taken it any other way. From that first, tentative kiss on a mission one July, when Natsu had lost himself for a moment because it was _that_ day and Lucy had to something, _anything_ to calm him down, to the next time when he'd thought he'd lost her, their love would transform. It would keep growing until there was no way they could hide it from the rest of their teammates, let alone the guild, and Mirajane's exceptional plot to get them together would become a legendary success story.

And the whole time, a redheaded fire mage, since learned to be called Rose, would watch them from afar, a red guild emblem on her right hand. A reminder that the two who had saved her from her downward spiral, her thirst for blood, were always there. A red emblem on his right shoulder, a pink marking on her right hand; a red marking on Rose's right hand to remind her that it was those two, and the love that they hadn't yet discovered, who had saved her.

_Bloom_, she had willed those feelings of theirs, that love, in the last moments of her consciousness all that time ago.

And it had.

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><p><strong>Um…so, yeah. I had the urge to write a one-shot, and this is what came out. I'm sorry if it's a little confusing or anything, especially at the end, but I really, <strong>_**really**_** couldn't think of how to make them end up together after I brought Wendy in ('cause before I added Wendy I had an idea of what I was going to do, but then after…yeah). So basically, it's implied NaLu. For the most part.**

**Yes, I know the title is a little...I dunno, I didn't think it was very good, but whatever. XD**

**I do kind of like the earlier parts, but then I got to the end and just kind of wrapped it all up 'cause I was tired of it already. So, if you guys like it, I'm glad, if you don't…whatever. Just don't leave an entirely anonymous review to bash it (I've had that done on a Bleach story of mine; I'm **_**soooo**_** sorry that my thinking of Ichigo as ignorant seemed too overused, but maybe you should have asked if I'd read any **_**other**_** fics…because I never read more than five Ichigo/Rukia fics until **_**after**_** I wrote that one-shot! UGH!)**

**Ahem, anyway…please don't leave anonymous reviews that just shamelessly rip it to shreds. At least leave a **_**name**_** if you don't have an account. XD**

**That is, if you even review. I don't beg very often for those, and I don't require them.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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